The court denied the relief saying he was the deputy chief minister and the possibility of witnesses being influenced could not be ruled out.
Manish Sisodia. (Creative Commons)
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, 30 May, dismissed the bail plea of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy scam being probed by the CBI, saying he is an influential man and the allegations against him are “very serious” in nature.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma denied the relief to the AAP leader, who was arrested on 26 February, saying he has held the post of the deputy chief minister with 18 portfolios and the possibility of witnesses being influenced could not be ruled out.
“In view of the discussion made, the allegations are very serious in nature that the excise policy was formed at the instance of the South group with malafide intention to give undue advantage to them. Such an act points towards the misconduct of the applicant who was admittedly a public servant and was holding a very high position,” the high court said.
It said it had neither examined the excise policy in the present proceedings nor the government’s power regarding the framing of the economic policy.
It said the court had also not examined the administrative decisions of the government.
“However, since there are serious allegations of misconduct against Sisodia, he being an influential person and having held the position of deputy chief minister with 18 portfolios and the witnesses mostly being public servants, there is a possibility of witnesses being influenced cannot be ruled out,” the high court said.
In the facts and circumstances of the case, this court is of the considered view that the petitioner was not entitled to bail, the judge said.
CBI arrested Sisodia for alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 following several rounds of questioning.
He has challenged the 31 March order of a trial court which had dismissed Sisodia’s bail plea in the matter, saying he was “prima facie the architect” of the “scam” and had played the “most important and vital role” in the criminal conspiracy related to alleged payment of advance kickbacks of ₹90-100 crore meant for him and his colleagues in the Delhi government.
Sisodia, who was arrested on 9 March, is currently in judicial custody in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case. His bail plea in the money laundering case was dismissed by the trial court and the challenge is pending before the high court.
Sisodia’s lawyer had said the allegation that he was a recipient of the proceeds of crime was “all in the air” and no money trail leading to him had been found.
Sisodia had sought parity for him with the other accused who have got relief and claimed that he was not in a position to influence the witnesses in the case or tamper with evidence.
The CBI has opposed his bail plea, saying he was in a position of power and had political clout.
While opposing the plea, the CBI had said the senior AAP leader controlled various departments, including the excise, and claimed that he wilfully destroyed evidence and mobile phone on the day the present matter was referred by the Lieutenant Governor to the CBI.
The CBI had said that the excise policy was manipulated to favour cartelisation and monopolisation in the liquor trade in the national capital, and Sisodia and businessman Vijay Nair were the main conspirators.
While the CBI contended that Sisodia is the “kingpin and architect of the conspiracy” and his influence and clout disentitle him to any parity with the co-accused enlarged on bail, the AAP leader urged the high court to grant him bail claiming no money trail linking him to the proceeds of the alleged crime has been found.
The ED is investigating alleged irregularities in the implementation of the now-scrapped liquor policy of the Delhi government. The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR.
According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours were extended to licence holders.
The Delhi government implemented the policy on 17 November, 2021, but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
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